Denise Dewey Potter

Denise Dewey Potter

Humanitarian, Traveler, Dedicated Community Servant

1948 – 2026

Denise Dewey Potter, known to friends and family simply as Dewey, died in the wee hours of July 25th in Seattle, Washington, from complications of cancer. Dewey was an irreplaceable original, loved by family, friends, and coworkers alike.

She was born in Massachusetts in 1948 to an educator mother and a U.S. Air Force father, arriving during the Berlin Airlift when planes— including those her father piloted—were landing in Berlin every 45 seconds with lifesaving food and fuel. These twin spirits of travel and humanitarianism remained with Dewey her whole life. Reflecting on retirement, she said simply, “I’ve volunteered and I’ve traveled the world.”

Dewey was educated across many states— Wisconsin, Illinois, Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, and Alabama—as well as at the Old Brewery School in England and the International School of Bangkok in Thailand before graduating from Florida State University with a BA in English. After working in Tallahassee as an aide to state senator Helen Gordon Davis, she moved to Seattle and made her mark in several departments.

She worked for the City of Seattle for nearly 40 years. She began as a legislative aide to the City Council where she formed many lifelong friendships and became familiar with the entire City government. She then spent eight years in the Office of Management and Budget. She settled for the remainder of her career in the Department of Parks and Recreation, where she served as the Communications Manager in the Department and became the voice of Parks. She helped resolve parks issues, shape new policies, and put new processes in place. After retiring, she served on the Park District Oversight Committee.

Her love of travel and community never faded. For nearly six decades, she regularly donated blood. She spent two weeks in Mississippi helping survivors of Hurricane Katrina. When friends or family fell ill, she flew to their sides. Coworkers still laud her mentoring skills. After retirement she traveled with even greater intensity — driving 1950s cars in Cuba, hiking through Slovenian villages, photographing elephants in Botswana, meeting the Masai in Tanzania, and cruising the Nile aboard the Nefertiti.

Dewey was sharp, funny, and quick-witted. She could sing every lyric of the iconic songs of the 1950s and ’60s. She was an outstanding cook, baker, and host and, as one friend recalls, a “great dresser” who could apply lipstick one-handed, without a mirror. Above all, she loved her family, reuniting with them several times a year, especially at Woodburn, the Pennsylvania home built by her great-grandmother. She will be laid to rest in the family cemetery beside Woodburn. Dewey will be remembered for her kindness, her thoughtfulness, and her generous spirit. She was unique, an original, a one-of-a-kind. We shall not see her like again.

Dewey is survived by her siblings Abby Werlock of Troy, PA; Jennifer Winton (Hugh) of Seattle; Tim Potter (Kathy) of Rockledge, FL; Amy Gibson (John) of Seattle; and Meg Potter of Tallahassee, FL; her cousins Ward Wellman (Laura), Tony Wellman (Keren), Laurie Hime, Abbie Howell, Priss Windham (Jim), and Lisa McGreevy (Manny); her nieces and nephews Adam Silver (Rachel), Ben Silver (Karen), Eve Wright (Bruce) Colin Gibson (Riain), Molly Higgins (Kainoa), and Tommy Gibson (Jordan); and her great-nieces and great-nephews Frankie and Thomasin Gibson and Hazel and Remy Higgins.

A Celebration of Dewey’s Life will be held at Woodburn during the Columbus Day weekend. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Planned Parenthood, American Civil Liberties Union or Southern Poverty Law Center, organizations Dewey supported. The Gerald W. Vickery, Jr. Funeral & Cremation Services, Inc. Troy, PA has been entrusted with the local arrangements.